Sunday, July 29, 2012

Taiwan Property Transactions Hit Nine-Year Low

Property transactions in Taiwan for the first half of this year fell to an almost nine-year low, reflecting the implementation of the luxury tax which aims to curb market speculation, according to the government statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior Saturday. According to the statistics, transactions of residential and commercial properties on the island in the past six months fell 20.9 percent to about 159,000 units. The luxury tax, which took effect in June 2011, imposes a 15 percent sales tax on second homes sold within one year of purchase and a 10 percent sales tax on properties sold between one and two years after they were purchased.

Taiwan's property market has been so inflated that a 20% drop in six months represents a nine-year low. Ouch. Is it really due to the tax, or to the slowdown in the world's economies affecting would-be buyers?
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